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Is Personal Finance Really 80% Behavior and 20% Head Knowledge?
By JLP | October 26, 2007
Dave Ramsey is notorious for saying that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. It’s a neat little soundbite but does it make any sense?
I wonder how he came up with it? I was thinking it was 70% behavior and 30% head knowledge. Or, maybe it’s 40% behavior and 60% head knowledge? I joke, I joke. But, I’m curious to know if any of you Dave Ramsey fans know how Dave came up with this little tidbit. If you know, please share.
Perhaps it’s related to the 80/20 principle (also known as the Pareto Principle). According to Wikipedia:
The Pareto Principle states that, for many events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., “80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.”
I don’t think the Pareto Principal applies here because it doesn’t fit this scenario. Dave is saying that 100% of personal finance success is the result of 80% behavior + 20% head knowledge, while the Pereto Principal would say that 80% of personal finance success comes from 20% of something else (behavior or head knowledge).
Obviously you can have all the personal finance knowledge in the world but if you can’t control your behavior you’ll never get anywhere. So, you do have to have both ingredients. I just want to know how Dave Ramsey came up with his soundbite.
Topics: Dave Ramsey |
